Analog synthesizers commonly use a wheel or pedal to change a user single input while playing the device (e.g. oscillator frequency or filter cut-off frequency). Wheels and pedals are currently limited to control the inputs adjusted with knobs. Furthermore, the connections made by patch cables are binary and cannot be proportionally controlled between fully off and fully on.
Current analog synthesizer techniques have limited capability to allow the user to be guided to create a previous sound. Furthermore, it is difficult for the user to accurately document and reproduce same sound due to the complexity of the device.
Currently the process to recall a sound is semi-digital where the knob position does not directly control a voltage used by a synthesizer module. These are called “infinite knobs” and the physical position does not correlate to an absolute setting for any given parameter of the synthesizer. To see the value of the setting the user must look at a numeric display. This makes it difficult to “play” as an instrument.
Currently there is no analog synthesizer that can store the patch connections between modules as they are made by manually plugging cables into sockets on the modules.
Current wave form generating techniques typically use “modules”, such as oscillators, envelope generators, arbitrary waveform generators, digital pattern generators and frequency generators are limited by the current method which involves a technical understanding the underlying circuits within a module as well as different ways to connect or electrically “patch” modules together.
By contrast, once digital synthesizers came into fashion, they can modify some of these features through non-analog sound formation. Indeed, certain digital synthesizers use inputs, such as joysticks or touch sensitive pads that can provide the ability to control more than one input at a time.
Digital Audio Workstation software has the ability to control every parameter of a digitally simulated synthesizer, however the interface requires the inputs be determined in advance of paying the sound. The interface is analogous to musical notation and does not allow the user to “play” the sounds in real time.